Children savour mom’s 100-year milestone

Ottaline Sealy who gave birth to 17 children has reached the golden age of 100.

Eight of her offspring gathered at her South District, St George home on Wednesday, her birthday, to celebrate the momentous occasion and to thank her for the many sacrifices she made to ensure that all of her children were always well groomed and had access to the necessities of life.

Sealy’s second child, Sylvia Flavius, 80, told Barbados TODAY that her mother was a strict lady who worked hard on numerous plantations and then spent approximately 18 years at the National Conservation Commission (NCC) to ensure that her children were always fed and did not have to depend on others to fulfil their needs.

“She did it very well. When she finished working on Saturdays she scrubbed, cleaned, and cooked. It was just an ordinary thing for her to do.”

The centenarian, who was born at Four Hill, St Peter, was married to the children’s father Theophilus Straker, who died in 1966 at age 54. She later remarried.

“We really thank God that she has reached this milestone and we hope that God will watch over her,” 62-year-old Elsia Griffith said as she spoke lovingly about her mother.

Arlene Straker, 55, the youngest child, described her matriarch as a cool individual who gives no trouble and eats everything. Straker, who also works at NCC said Sealey spends her days relaxing.

“She gets good care because you can see she is still here and she looks pretty okay. She likes ‘ground’ food but my mother would eat everything. She would eat me and you too. I am serious, she eats everything and she doesn’t have any health issues that kind of way. She got her feet amputated because of poor circulation.

“Her next appointment now at the Glebe Polyclinic is sometime this week or next week. When I took her last year the doctor said she was fine, ‘bring her back in six months’. So she is good,” Straker said.

Member of Parliament for St George South, Dwight Sutherland, also visited Sealy’s home to wish her happy birthday and to present her with a gift basket. He recalled that he met the old lady when he entered elective politics in 2012 and the first thing he noticed was that she was a straightforward person who told him to do his best to represent the interests of the constituents.

He said over the years, he benefited from Sealey’s loving nature, and commended her for her contribution to national development, including working on the sugar cane plantation and raising 17 children.

“Yesterday we debated a bill [in the House of Assembly] to protect our agricultural product. It is people like Ms Sealey who did yeoman service for this country that brought us from 100 years to where we are now as a very fast developing country.

“We recognise persons in this country are living longer, I can say hard work did nothing to Ms Sealy. She has always been a very strong, robust woman and I want to thank her children and I want to thank the church. It is because of family and community that we have people being happy and living a life that they can share with us what happened 100 years ago,” Sutherland said.

Sealy, a member of the South District Methodist Church, has some 26 grandchildren and approximately 28 greatgrands.

The centenarian’s eldest child, Winfield Worrell, 83, is still alive.

President Dame Sandra marked the occasion in a chat with the centenarian and her family via Zoom.